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Operation Sentinel Lock
Operation Phou Phiang II (6 August – 25 October 1972) was one of the final battles of the Laotian Civil War. It was an attempt to relieve the siege on the guerrilla headquarters at Long Tieng on the Plain of Jars. It was designed as a two phase attack consisting of five task forces of Thai mercenaries and Royalist guerrillas upon the People's Army of Vietnam invading Laos. Air superiority was used to direct over 100 air strike sorties daily to support the offense, and air mobility to shuffle attacking troops. A new radar bombing program by F-111 Aardvarks and B-52 Stratofortresses failed to cripple the Communist forces. Designed to overwhelm Communist defenses with its multiplicity, the five Lao task forces were defeated in detail by the Communists despite two new columns being improvised and introduced into the fray. Key to the Lao defeat was the lack of competent staff work to coordinate the operation, the immaturity and carelessness of their troops, as well as a widespread ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laotian Civil War
The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos which was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War, with both sides receiving heavy external support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers. It is called the Secret War among the American CIA Special Activities Center, and Hmong and Mien veterans of the conflict. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert theater for other belligerents during the Vietnam War. The Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association (signed 22 October 1953) transferred remaining French powers to the Royal Lao Government (except control of military affairs), establishing Laos as an independent member of the French Union. However, this government did not include representatives from the Lao Issara anti-colonial armed nationalist movement. The following years were marked by a rivalry between the neutralists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and performing covert actions. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States. President Harry S. Truman had created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946, and this group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency by implementation of the National Security Act of 1947. Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sapper
A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair. They are also trained and equipped to serve as provisional infantry, fighting as such as a secondary mission. A sapper's duties facilitate and support movement, defense, and survival of allied forces and impede those of enemies. The term "sapper" is used in the British Army and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations and the U.S. military. The word "sapper" comes from the French word ''sapeur'', itself being derived from the verb ''saper'' (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). Historical origin Sapping A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who dug trenches to allow besieging forces to advance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field Gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artillery), as opposed to guns installed in a fort (garrison artillery or coastal artillery), or to siege cannons and mortars which are too large to be moved quickly, and would be used only in a prolonged siege. Perhaps the most famous use of the field gun in terms of advanced tactics was Napoleon Bonaparte's use of very large wheels on the guns that allowed them to be moved quickly even during a battle. By moving the guns from point-to-point during a battle, enemy formations could be broken up to be handled by the infantry or cavalry wherever they were massing, dramatically increasing the overall effectiveness of the attack. World War I As the evolution of artillery continued, almost all guns of any size became capable of being moved at some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PT-76
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Iraq, Syria, North Korea and North Vietnam. The tank's full name is Floating Tank–76 (, ''plavayushchiy tank'', or ). ''76'' stands for the caliber of the main armament: the 76.2 mm D-56T series rifled tank gun. The PT-76 is used in the reconnaissance and fire-support roles. Its chassis served as the basis for a number of other vehicle designs, many of them amphibious, including the BTR-50 armored personnel carrier, the ZSU-23-4 self-propelled antiaircraft gun, the ASU-85 airborne self-propelled gun and the 2K12 Kub anti-aircraft missile launch vehicle. Development After World War II, the concept of light tanks was resurrected in the USSR. They were to be used in reconnaissance units and therefore an amphibious ability wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank weapons. The Christie suspension was inherited from the design of American J. Walter Christie's M1928 tank, versions of which were sold turret-less to the Red Army and documented as "farm tractors", after being rejected by the U.S. Army. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front in the World War II, Second World War, and had a short lasting impact on tank design. After the Germans encountered the tank in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, German general Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" and Heinz Guderian affirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over German tanks. Alfred Jodl, chief of operations staff of the German armed forces noted in his war diar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Battle
In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed force. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the United Kingdom. An order of battle is distinct from a Table of Organization and Equipment, table of organisation, which is the intended composition of a given unit or formation according to the military doctrine of its armed force. Historically, an order of battle was the order in which troops were positioned relative to the position of the army commander or the chronological order in which ships were deployed in naval situations. As combat operations develop during a campaign, orders of battle may be revised and altered in response to the military needs and challenges. Also the known details of an order of battle may change durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easter Offensive
The Easter Offensive, also known as the 1972 spring–summer offensive ('' vi, Chiến dịch Xuân–Hè 1972'') by North Vietnam, or the red fiery summer (') as romanticized in South Vietnamese literature, was a military campaign conducted by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN, the regular army of North Vietnam) against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN, the regular army of South Vietnam) and the United States military between 30 March and 22 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. This conventional invasion (the largest invasion since 300,000 Chinese troops had crossed the Yalu River into North Korea during the Korean War) was a radical departure from previous North Vietnamese offensives. The offensive was designed to achieve a decisive victory, which even if it did not lead to the collapse of South Vietnam, would greatly improve the North's negotiating position at the Paris Peace Accords. The U.S. high command had been expecting an attack in 1972 but the size and fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
312th Division (Vietnam)
The 312th Infantry Division is a division of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), first formed in October 1950. It was one of the 6 original "Iron and Steel" Divisions of the Viet Minh. First Indochina War The 312th Division was formed in October 1950 and first saw action in January 1951 at the Battle of Vĩnh Yên. In late April 1953 General Võ Nguyên Giáp ordered the 312th to threaten Luang Prabang, the division reached the outskirts of the capital on 30 April but were then withdrawn back into Tonkin. In November 1953 the 312th was positioned near Phú Thọ to protect against any French action in the Red River region. On 24 December Giap ordered the 312th to move from Phú Thọ to Điện Biên Phủ and by mid January 1954 they were in position in the north-east of the valley. Regiments 141 and 209 of the 312th led the initial attack of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, overrunning Strongpoint Beatrice in five hours on the night of 13 March 1954. On the evening 14 March Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Strength II
Operation Strength II (6–31 March 1972) was a Royalist military offensive of the Laotian Civil War. It was devised as another diversion in the mode of the original Operation Strength. Planned as a pincer movement on the Plain of Jars, Operation Strength II's beginning was grossly hampered by combat refusals and desertions from one of its two task forces. Loss of tactical air support as the Easter Offensive began in South Vietnam also weakened the Laotian effort. In any event, neither pincer did much toward its goal of distracting the People's Army of Vietnam from its attempts to overrun the strategic guerrilla base at Long Tieng and end the war. Overview From the moment the Kingdom of Laos was founded in 1953, it harbored a Communist insurrection. The United States government supported the kingdom with military aid. As part of this aid, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) raised a "Secret Army" of Hmong hill tribesmen to oppose the invading People's Army of Vietnam (PA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Strength I
Operation Strength (6 February – 17 March 1972) was a Royalist military offensive of the Laotian Civil War. The attack, undertaken against the advice of his American backers by Hmong General Vang Pao, was launched across the rear of the attacking People's Army of Vietnam forces. A distracting attack was launched from Boumalong in the north while the main assault struck northwards from Ban Pa Dong. A BLU-82 superbomb served as a secondary distraction. Having drawn 11 of the 22 attacking Communist battalions back into their own rear area, the Royalists withdrew after suffering light casualties. The Operation Strength feints into the PAVN rear area sapped the vigor from the ongoing Campaign Z. Overview The Kingdom of Laos came into being with an ongoing Communist insurrection already rampant. In response, the U.S. government—primarily the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—sponsored a covert army of Lao hill tribesmen to combat it. Hmong General Vang Pao led ''L'Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campaign Z
Campaign Z (17 December 1971 – 30 January 1972) was a military offensive by the People's Army of Vietnam; it was a combined arms thrust designed to defeat the last Royal Lao Army troops defending the Kingdom of Laos. The Communist assault took Skyline Ridge overlooking the vital Royalist base of Long Tieng and forced the restationing of Royalist aviation assets and civilian refugees. However, Communist forces eventually receded back onto their lines of communication without capturing the base. Campaign Z was notable for escalations of the Laotian Civil War conflict. The Vietnamese Communists brought 130 mm field guns and T-34 tanks into action in Laos for the first time. The Vietnamese People's Air Force also launched MiG 21 attacks into Lao air space to challenge the Royalist side's air supremacy. On its side, the Royal Lao Government and its Central Intelligence Agency backers imported copious numbers of mercenaries from the Kingdom of Thailand as reinforcements, and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
